The watergate case, also called the watergate scandal (watergate scandal) was an episode of political espionage, which culminated in the resignation of Richard Nixon, President of the United States, in 1974.
The case occurred during the US presidential campaign in 1972, but did not surface until two years later, in 1974.
The presidential campaign and the invasion of the Watergate building
Richard Nixon was Vice President of the United States during the two terms of Republican Dwight Eisenhower. In 1968, he ran for president of the republic and emerged victorious in the elections, assuming the main position in the White House (government seat).
During the 1972 re-election campaign, an alleged robbery of the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate building complex. The Watergate complex was a luxury center that had commercial rooms, apartments, shops and a hotel.
In a room on the seventh floor of the west building was the headquarters of the Democratic Party, where the five-man gang was found installing wiretaps and taking pictures of documents.
Among those arrested by the police, James McCord, had received a payment in the amount of $25,000 from Nixon's re-election committee.
Despite the strange features of the alleged robbery, the case did not receive much public attention and Nixon ran for and won the election against Democrat George McGovern.
The impeachment process and the resignation of Richard Nixon
Two journalists from Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, are dedicated to investigating and receive anonymous information from a member of the FBI (the equivalent of the federal police in the United States). The anonymous informant was nicknamed "Deep Throat".
Journalists concluded that Nixon's campaign office had carried out a sabotage and espionage scheme that gave him a big advantage in the presidential race.
Since then, the case has received a lot of media attention and public pressure. On February 7, 1973, a Democratic-majority Senate committee was created to investigate cases reported by the press.
The investigation by the senate lasted from March 1973 to June 1974. Among other abuses, it was found that those responsible for the re-election campaign, with the participation of Nixon himself, were responsible for:
- Form a team of political spies in the service of the White House.
- Carry out a series of clandestine eavesdropping on opponents.
- Embezzlement and embezzlement of money.
- Steal sensitive documents.
- Receive campaign funding in exchange for favors for companies.
- Obstruct investigations.
With the advances in the testimony given to the Senate committee, Nixon's impeachment process appeared to be irreversible. The investigations made it clear that Nixon and his team had attacked US democracy.
Then, on August 9, 1974, then-President Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States.
The legacy of Watergate
Vice President Gerald Ford took office after the resignation of Richard Nixon and amnesty the former president for crimes he committed.
Despite this, since then, the press and justice, around the world, have shown themselves to be attentive to the cases of using the State machine to defend the private interests of representatives of the government.
With that, until today, the term gate it became a suffix used by the media in cases of confidential and compromising information leaks, for example, in the "Fifa Gate" (corruptions and vote purchases for World Cup venues).
The Watergate Affair in Cinema
The remarkable story with its web of intrigues and corruptions inspired several works of cinema. For those who want to know even more about the topic or just understand some references, here is a list of films about the famous American scandal:
- Watergate (2018)
- All the President's Men (1976)
- Frost/Nixon (2008)
- Mark Felt: The Man Who Toppled the White House (2017)
- Nixon (1995)
Interested? See too:
- Richard Nixon
- John Kennedy
- Impeachment
